Real Madrid Takes Down Mexican Side Pachuca at The FIFA Club World Cup in Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte, NC– The royal white of Real Madrid painted Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte as Los Blancos delivered a commanding 3-1 victory over Mexican side CF Pachuca, keeping their FIFA Club World Cup dreams alive in dramatic fashion. With thousands of passionate Madristas transforming the North Carolina venue into a mini Santiago Bernabéu, Carlo Ancelotti’s men showcased the class and precision that have made them European royalty, while simultaneously setting up a winner-takes-all showdown with Austrian challengers RB Salzburg. Now deadlocked at four points apiece atop Group H, Real Madrid’s path to Club World Cup glory runs directly through their final group stage encounter.

Jude Bellingham and Arda Güler scored late in the first half to help 10-man Real Madrid to a 3-1 victory over Pachuca in a Group H clash played amid sweltering conditions Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Federico Valverde’s sliding volley in the 70th minute sealed Xabi Alonso’s first victory as Madrid manager. The result puts his side’s FIFA Club World Cup campaign back on track after a dramatic 1-1 draw against Al Hilal in Wednesday’s opener, despite Sunday’s early dismissal of defender Raúl Asencio.

“okay last year some things happened and I’m not going to say that the fact that three goals were scored at home today is because we’ve specifically worked on that no I’m not going to wear that medal it’s more about the quality the players have but yes we did talk after the sending off about staying compact and that once we got past the initial phase they could push forward it wasn’t something we worked on all week it was more something we talked about during the cooling break we wanted to stretch the pitch a bit with Vinny, and Gonzalo on the last line and let others arrive into the box then it comes down to their quality the finishes were fantastic Jude’s first one Arda second one it came at a really tough time being down to 10 men in the seventh minute you have to change your plan the team showed defensive sacrifice discipline we gave up more control to the opponent but managed the game without the ball we knew that once we recovered possession we could hit him that’s how the goals came it gave us confidence in what we were doing even after halftime the third goal was really important in case we conceded as we did so we wouldn’t feel under pressure at the end so yes I think this win gives us a big boost both tactically and emotionally to keep competing in this tournament.” — Xabi Alonso, Manager of Real Madrid

Real Madrid (1-0-1, 4 points) can clinch a place in the last 16 with a win or draw against RB Salzburg on Thursday in Philadelphia. Al Hilal plays RB Salzburg later Sunday in Washington, D.C. at Audi Field.

Thibault Courtois made 10 saves for the victors, though he could do little on Elias Montiel’s 80th-minute deflected effort that provided Pachuca (0-2-0, 0 points) consolation.

The Mexican side was eliminated despite leading its Spanish foes with a 25-8 edge in shots overall and 11-3 in efforts on target. But as in Pachuca’s 2-1 Wednesday loss to Salzburg, it was their opponents who had more quality in their attacks.

Head referee Ramon Abatti Abel showed no hesitation in dismissing Asencio in the seventh minute for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity after the Madrid defender hauled down Salomón Rondón just beyond the penalty area.

The game was played on a temporary grass field. The stadium is home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, who play on an artificial surface.

Game Highlights